Traffic accident leads to weapons charges against Racine man

A report of a traffic accident Sunday led to a pair of criminal charges being filed Monday in Racine County Circuit Court against a 27-year-old Racine man.

Tyler L. Mitchell is charged with a felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon and a misdemeanor count of possession of a firearm while intoxicated.

The felony carries a fine of $25,000 and 10 years in prison, while the misdemeanor carries a fine of $10,000 and nine months in county jail.
According to the criminal complaint:

Racine police officers were dispatched at 6 a.m. Sunday to the 1900 block of Three Mile Road for a report of a driver passed out in a car that had crashed into a fence.

When police arrived, they found a white Nissan against a Racine County Parks Department fence with front-end damage. The vehicle was still in drive but had been shut off.
Mitchell was found lying on the ground next to the driver’s side door. Police also found, in plain view, a .40 caliber handgun lying in the driver’s seat.

Police spoke to the defendant, who appeared to have red glossy eyes and slow speech. He told the officers he thought he was in Kenosha and went out to get food. He admitted to drinking about three beers the night before.

During a search of the vehicle, police found $1,200 in the center console the defendant said he had won at a casino in Milwaukee the night before, along with marijuana, but there was not enough substance to test.

A portable breath test revealed that Mitchell had a blood alcohol content of 0.11.